Rallying-Rovanpera leads Toyota five-car charge in Canary Islands
FIA World Rally Championship - Rally Sweden - Stage 7 of Second Round - Torsby, Sweden - February 15, 2020. Kalle Rovanpera of Finland (Toyota Yaris WRC) poses for a photo. TT News Agency/Micke Fransson/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN.
(Reuters) -Double world champion Kalle Rovanpera led a Toyota charge on the first full day of the Canary Islands Rally on Friday with the Japanese manufacturer filling the top five places.
Rovanpera was fastest on all six asphalt stages of the season's fourth round in Gran Canaria and was leading eight-times world champion Sebastien Ogier by 26.8 seconds with championship leader Elfyn Evans third and a further 9.6 back.
Sami Pajari was fourth and Takamoto Katsuta fifth.
Hyundai's reigning world champion Thierry Neuville was only sixth, ahead of team mates Ott Tanak and Adrien Fourmaux.
"It feels quite good," said Rovanpera of his day. "It's surprisingly nice to have this kind of Tarmac rally. We haven't had it in a long time."
Saturday sees the longest leg of the rally, making its world championship debut, with seven stages and more than 120km of action.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Clare Fallon)
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